Uncertain Start Turns Into Bright Future
Christian was nine months old when his grandmother, Nancy Panarese brought him to Children’s Specialized Hospital. Christian was born to Nancy’s third child when she was 18 years old and getting ready for college. From that moment on, Nancy and her husband, took care of Christian. After raising four children, they knew Christian wasn’t making his milestones.
Nancy clearly remembers the day they visited Children’s Specialized Hospital in Mountainside to get the results of their precious grandson’s MRI. “Dr. Diamond put the MRI on the viewing screen, my daughter started to cry and I just wasn’t able to comprehend what I was seeing.” Said Nancy.
Dr. Diamond took the MRI off of the viewing screen and looked at the family and said, “Christian as you saw has half of his brain missing on the right side. He has cerebral palsy.”
Nancy and her family were grateful to have Children’s Specialized Hospital. They didn’t know where to begin, but Dr. Diamond embraced the family with support and a plan.
Christian immediately started Early Intervention Therapy and what was known as the day hospital. The family was still unsure of what Children’s future would look like. However with the support of both the medical and therapy staff the family realized that although Christian had many physical challenges, he was mentally intact.
At age three Christian attended pre-school at the encouragement of the staff at Children’s Specialized. This is when he began learning how to communicate using pictures. At age seven and half he started to speak.
Every time the family visited with Dr. Diamond he would share what the family should be looking for and how we should always strived to achieve his maximum potential - even though it was medically unclear.
At age 17, Christian can not only write his name, he can write a paragraph, draw, is taking a graphic arts course and uses a computer independently. He is currently a junior at our local high school. He is in wheelchair that stands him upright and his biggest enjoyment is that he can go to the smart board like his peers and be at the same eye level with his friends in the hallway.
Christina has many friends and is involved in numerous extracurricular activities. He enjoys going to the movies, playing videogames, softball, sled hockey and rock climbing. Make no mistake, Christian still has cerebral palsy and is physically challenged. He cannot do activities of daily living without assistance but with that being said, without the support of Children’s Specialized Hospital and the compassionate and dedicated commitment of the staff to help his entire family, Christian would not be going into his senior year in September and looking towards college or vocational school.
Thanks to Children’s Specialized Hospital, Christian has gone from a dark future to a bright future full of opportunities.